China has said it will “vigorously” develop new combat capabilities as it confronts the world’s “most complex security environment” amid the deepening rivalry with the United States.
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Speaking on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People’s Congress on Sunday, defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian defended this year’s 7.2 per cent rise in military spending, unveiled on Wednesday, as “reasonable and steady” and in line with economic growth.
However, he admitted it remained an “arduous, uphill” battle to turn the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) into a “world-class” military and hit its modernisation targets by 2027, the centenary of its founding.
Wu said national defence spending would rise to 1.81 trillion yuan (US$250 billion) this year, including 1.78 trillion yuan allocated at the central level.
China’s military budget, the world’s second-largest, has grown by 7.2 per cent annually for the past three years, while economic growth targets have stood at around 5 per cent throughout that time.
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The rise came amid spiralling tensions across the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea, and rampant military corruption scandals.